Now Commenting On:

No plans to option Romero or skip his start

No plans to option Romero or skip his start

Email

Print

By
/
|

DETROIT -- Ricky Romero has gone through more than his fair share of ups and downs this season, but the Blue Jays have no intention of bailing on their former No. 1 starter.

Romero has lost an American League worst 10 decisions in a row while posting a 7.69 ERA and 1.96 WHIP over that 11-start span. It's a far cry from last season's results when Romero was a bonafide ace, but there's still hope he will turn things around before the year is out.

Blue Jays manager John Farrell said on Wednesday that his club is not considering skipping Romero's next start or optioning him to the Minor Leagues, and instead will focus on getting him back on track at the big league level.

"The first thing I want to say is that we're not turning from Ricky," Farrell said one day after Romero issued a career-high eight walks in a 5-3 loss to Detroit. "I believe in him, we believe in him and we're not going to run from Ricky Romero.

"I think it would be very short-sighted on our part to just say, 'You know what Ricky, just sit on the bench for a while.' That's not to say we don't continue to work at and address his needs ... but I think the only way to continue to improve upon those is to work at it, and the game itself is where the work needs to continue to take place."

Romero had arguably been the Blue Jays' most reliable pitcher in each of the past two seasons. Last year he went 15-11 with a sparkling 2.92 ERA on his way to becoming one of the elite pitchers in the American League.

The velocity is still there, but the command appears to escape him at times during each start. He'll either leave a couple of pitches up in the zone or simply have issues throwing strikes, as was the case on Tuesday night when he walked six batters in the first two innings.

Toronto's hope is that Romero will be able to turn things around over the final six weeks of the season and finish the year on a positive note. That could work wonders for Romero during the offseason, as he'll attempt to put this disappointing campaign in the past.

"If that means there are opportunities upcoming where he has finished out a fifth inning in good fashion, he's ending on a positive note, maybe we take that into account a little bit more and gradually build it back in that way," Farrell said.

"It's always beneficial and reinforcing to get some proof of the work you're putting in. So we feel like there's a potential adjustment that we can make, or that I can make with in-game decisions regarding him directly, that hopefully we can continue to build the confidence that's needed."